When is it too late too start wedding planning?

Definitely at least book your venue since you’re a year away. Also start gathering you Bridal party (if you want one) and have them get their outfits together. You’d be surprised how long it takes to coordinate people and their attire for a wedding.

It’s definitely too early for save the dates before you have a venue, but there’s still LOTS of planning you can do now!
But, start with a venue— you’ll need that before anything else, as the venue locks in the date . To select a venue it’s helpful to have an idea of overall budget and ideal guestlist, as you’ll find these factors can all impact one another— when we first put together a list of who we’d like to invite in an ideal world but quickly learned weld have to trim down the list for the wedding we could afford once we better understood costs better. So with budget and guestlist we found a venue that could accommodate both. Once you find a venue you can sign a contract for a date, and really get the ball rolling— you need the date secured with a venue before you can really book any other vendors as they need the where and when to make sure they’re available.

For now, I’d get on the venue hunt ASAP. In the meantime I’d start researching other vendors (specifically first: caterer if not included with the venue, photographer, and DJ/band — these are the things that book up first, as well as some of the most important details) to get an idea of cost and interest/ what you’re looking for.

Though technically any photographer can take an engagement photo, I’d personally recommend holding off on engagement photos til you have your wedding photographer, and using them — that way you get a feel for them and their style and directing, get comfortable with them, make sure you like their product, and , bonus, many photographers (though not all) include an engagement session in their package. So if you want engagement pictures sooner than later, I’d go venue to secure date, then photographer. Then you’ll have your pictures if you want them for save the dates (which can be sent around 8-10 months out, or even closer to the date — you’ll see people say 6-8 months, but of you have a lot of out of town guests that would be traveling, the more notice the better). Remember that save the dates function as a pre-invite, and everyone who gets one should be invited to the wedding , so make sure your guestlist is set in stone before sending them out.

Definitely book your venue ASAP- your date might not even be available. Make a tentative guest list first so that you know how many people you need a venue to hold. There's a possibility your date may not be available, depending where you live.
Our wedding is August 2020 and everything is done and planned. There were only 3 Saturdays left for our venue and we booked it 8 months ago. My friends just got engaged and were looking for September/October 2020 and had to push back to 2021 because venues are already booked (lots of Fridays and Sundays available though).

Not trying to scare you- just suggesting that depending on where you live you may need to make some moves quickly.

Congrats!

I got engaged 2 years before my wedding day. I got my venue, photographer, officiant bbookedand some decor within the first year and then got my dress and cake Baker around the one year mark. I got 8 months to go now and am just about to get save the dates, bridesmaids dresses, hair/ makeup person and my dress fittings started soon

My FH proposed September 22nd. He and I are getting married Oct 10, 2020. It's only been a month but I already have my venue secured, a decorator, and we're taking engagement photos December 9th. I plan on making my send the dates and mailing them out as soon as I get them back.

Congratulations! The venue will dictate a lot and many places will start getting booked. If nothing else, i'd highly recommend you get a venue asap. Depending on the venue, they will likely be able to help with the rest and get you a jump start. Your main vendors (catering, baker, dj, florist) you will want to secure early even if you haven,t worked out all the details. Most vendors will let you add/subtract or generally change the details of your contract but you want to make sure they are planning to take care of your wedding. There is a bit of a cost in deposits but you also don,t want to be slim pickings. If you want to make save the dates and have them addressed but not send them just yet, that is fine.

Many people plan vacations for a full year based on the info they have at the beginning of the year. STDs can go out a little early for that reason as long as the invites do not go out until much closer. I personally didn't do STDs (sent my guests a message online saying hey save the date and whats the address for the invite?) but that is something to keep in mind.

View Quoted Comment That is what I always wanted until I actually got engaged lol. Reality set in, I was worried about weather, whether there would be construction near the park, permits and dog/ geese poo in the grass.

Definitely start planning now! Our wedding is Sept 12th, 2020 and I'm already coming across so many vendors that are booked. Our date was also the last fall 2020 date our venue had available so if your looking at October, I'd get started. One photographer told me that 2020 is a big wedding year and October 10th is the most popular date.

Girl it is NEVER too early!! the sooner the better. you don't want to stress and try to cram everything last minute and possibly miss out on something you wanted. take your time and enjoy the process!

No such thing as too soon. October is the most popular wedding month. So I would start looking for a venue asap. Most tend to book up for October wedding pretty far in advance. Save the Dates are typically sent out 6-8 months before you wedding date depending on how many out of town guests you are inviting. However, until you book your venue, you won't actually know your wedding date. So, I would start there.

A year out you should start working on the following:

-Budget

-Guest List

-Photographer

-Officiant

-Venue

Save the dates can be closer to 6-9 months depending on how may people will be traveling.

The earlier you start planning the better. A lot of vendors allow you to lock in “2019 rates” for 2020 weddings. Also, you’ll practically have first pick at all of the good quality vendors because I started planning at 6 months and have encountered vendors that have been already booked. You can also get a more realistic idea of what your budget is actually going to be. A lot of the times, what you THINK you’re going to spend and what you actually spend is much different. Also, if you’re trying to make it as cost effective as possible, you’ll have ample time to research and shop for the best deal. Good luck!

View Quoted Comment Agreed to everything here.

So today we got the reception area booked, went to look at some wedding dresses today, and bridesmaids dresses! It’s coming together slowly, but surely and I’m so happy !

We started planning two weeks ago for our June 2020 wedding. I think you’re fine

I feel like so many brides want the “fall theme” that you have to wait longer if you do want September or October because venues book up so fast. Until you have your major vendors booked (venue/dj/photographer) you don’t have your date set.

Congrats! Book your venue first and ASAP so you get the date you want, then go from there so you have a date to tell all of your other vendors. We got engaged back in May and didn’t do our engagement photos until the end of September after we had already booked all of our vendors, so don’t feel like you need to rush. Our wedding is Oct 3rd 2020 and we are going to send out save the dates in January. Once you have the big vendors booked (so you don’t lose your date) relax a little and enjoy the engagement! You don’t need to worry about the little things until you’re closer!

I think it's never too early to plan your wedding. Venues fill up quickly, and you want to be able to secure a place to host your wedding and not scrambling around last minute. If you go on Google and type in Wedding checklist, you should be able to pull up a bunch of websites with a checklist in chronological order of what you should be doing up until your wedding day.

My FBIL and his Wife planned their wedding in a week, so it’s never REALLY too late, it just depends on how intricate and detailed you want your wedding to be. And how much time you need to plan.

I'm getting married in october 2020 also and i got engaged in april. i've been planning since. depending where you are, things book up fast. i'm in milwaukee area so things go so fast. i would start planning asap. start with your venue. make sure you know what's open before you start planning anything else.